Wednesday, November 29, 2017

The Ralph Branca Collection at Hunt Auctions

Ralph Branca is a name all Dodger fans know. He had spent much of his professional Baseball career in Brooklyn, having started as an 18-year old teenager in 1944 out of Mount Vernon, NY, and went on to witness some of the most important events in the clubs history. Heck, he was a part of much of it. So, when I first saw this group 42 items from the personal collection of Ralph Branca at Hunt Auctions I had to take note. Featured here are a handful of items that recently sold through Hunt that I wanted to share.

Branca's last All-Star game appearance was in 1949, and shown above is an presentational box given to all National League All-Stars that year. (Auction Link) This item sold for $1,800.

These next two items are not only adorable, but also extremely unique. Heck, one of a kind.

When Ralph Branca was still a single bachelor he dated and eventually married the daughter of one of the owners of the Brooklyn Dodgers, James Mulvey. One of the many gifts he no doubt gave to her are the above and below Dodger-themed hair barrettes.

The piece above is from 1949 and features his wife-to-be's initials, "A. M." for Ann Mulvey, and is engraved on the reverse. It says, "Ann, Love Ralph 10-1-49." (Auction Link) This sold for $468. (A steal if you ask me)

The below barrette was specially created in 1953 - two years after Ralph and Ann's marriage. This time the barrette honors the 1953 NL pennant winning Dodgers, and includes Ann's new initials - "A. B." for Ann Branca. (Auction Link) This closed at $1,500.

Not only are there barrettes for sale, but the Branca family also put up a bunch of his rings. Below, I want to highlight just one of them -- his 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers World Series ring. Check it out below. (Auction Link) This sold for $15,000. BTW, his 1974 Dodgers NL Championship ring sold for $4,5000. The 1977 NL Championship ring sold for $5,500. The 1978 NL Championship ring sold for $4,500.

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“There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey. There’s nothing like it in sports. I don’t care that I’ve never been anywhere else. I don’t care. There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey.” -- A.J. Ellis